“It is a real change in emphasis for WFP towards addressing the longer term root causes of hunger. Over 80 percent of WFP’s assistance worldwide is on supporting emergencies. While responding to emergencies is important and saves lives, the real way to address hunger is to focus on addressing the root causes of hunger,” he explains. The P4P initiative is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Howard G. Buffett Foundation who have committed US$75 million so far. The Belgian Government has provided funds for the inclusion of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Belgium’s former colony.

Develop Agricultural Markets

Apart from the direct purchases from farmers, Samkange says the Purchase for Progress project in Uganda is giving farmers the know-how and the tools to be competitive players in the agricultural marketplace by funding agriculture market development initiatives aimed at boosting small holder farmer production, helping small holders access quality grain market, thereby enabling farmers to earn more income from their agriculture produce. He says as part of P4P, WFP is also involved in supporting warehouse construction, building of critical roads and other infrastructures that help link farmers to better price markets.

Alex Rwego, Manger of Uganda Uganda Commodities Exchange

Alex Rwego, the Manger of the Uganda Commodities Exchange (UCE) that runs the warehouses in Uganda says Purchase for Progress is enabling the WFP to benefit local small holder farmers. He says since WFP has been using the tendering process, over 80percent of its purchases have been going to traders, and not necessarily benefiting the people who grow the food- the farmers.

“We signed a memorandum of understanding with WFP that they will buy directly from our warehouses since we can provide the commodity well graded to their standard. We have all these groups of farmers who bring their crops to the warehouses that now benefit directly from WFP purchases,” Rwego says.

Many farmers like Simuntu have in the past failed to sell to WFP because of the high quality standards that the UN Food agency requires. In order to sell maize to WFP, a farmer has to meet the East Africa 1 standard-the highest grain standard in the market. To achieve this, farmers have to deposit their food produce with a warehouse licensed by UCE. The warehouse cleans dries and safely keeps the produce.

“We are importing a lot of cleaning, bagging and drying equipment for farmers to have their crops meet the EA1 standard. Once you meet the standards, you can sell your commodities not just to WFP but to other international buyers. This puts farmers on the level to benefit from international market prices which are  higher that most local traders offer,” Samkange says.

He says WFP is also working with the UCE to link farmers to financial institutions. Samkange says one of the advantages of the warehouse receipt system is that once a farmer deposits his or her commodities in the warehouse, she or he gets a receipt, which she or he can take to the bank to get a loan at the value of the deposited commodities.

IS Purchase for Progress a good Project that Farmers can’t tap?

But while the WFP in Uganda has set a target of purchasing food worth 100 Million US dollars a year, they are currently buying food worth 50 Million US dollars because that is the amount of food produce they can get in the Uganda market. Yet of the 21 countries globally undertaking the P4P project, Uganda is the biggest success.

This raises a question on why farmers in Uganda who have been complaining of lacking good prices for their agricultural produce can fail to tap this ready market by WFP. Many farmers interviewed in Kamuli and Kapchorwa where most of the P4P purchases are made admitted that while the WFP’s direct purchase has brought them numerous opportunities, it is difficult for many an average farmer to tap.

Denis Kiplagat, a maize farmer in Chebonet, Kapchorwa, says the quality and quantity standards required by WFP make it hard for most farmers to supply produce to the UN food agency. He says farmers must produce at least 150 tons before they are allowed to deposit food with the warehouses that WFP buys from. more next page (3)

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